Season Reviews: Crystal Palace Season Review
Monday, June 08, 2015
Final League position: 10th
Points total: 48
Season 2014-15 Summary:
Never the most fashionable club in London, never mind the Premier League, Crystal Palace have quietly gone about their business and established themselves as a solid, mid-table PL team. That might sound a bit like damning them with faint praise, but after eight long seasons in the Championship – and compared to the resources available to other clubs in London, never mind the Premier League – Palace’s achievement is remarkable. Their tenth place and 48pts total is a place and 3pts improvement on last season. But more significantly, sits them comfortably above four teams who spent more than double Palace’s £54million in transfer fess over the last five years. Indeed, only three teams in the PL – West Brom, Leicester and Burnley – have spent less.
Crystal Pulis…
When Tony Pulis arrived in November 2013 and accepted the mission improbable of keeping Palace up (when seemingly already cremated) manager and team seemed a perfect match. All energy, endeavour and organisation – Pulis’ remarkable 11 clean sheets from 25 matches not only dug Palace out of the dodo but seemed to deliver a perfect cocktail of PL sustainability. When he suddenly departed on the eve of the season however, any optimism soon drained away. And that was BEFORE Neil Warnock showed up…
The first half of the season produced just three wins and Warnock was gone at Christmas. But Alan Pardew’s appointment on January 2nd soon looked inspired. A run of eight wins from his first 12 matches – punctuated only by narrow defeats to Everton, Arsenal and Southampton – removed any suggestion of being drawn into the relegation bun-fight. And Palace wound up the season winning at Anfield and leaving the pitch fuming at being beaten by Manchester United. Heady times. In fact, a closer look at their season stats reveals further revelations that might surprise.
Palace on their travels…
- Based on their away record alone they would’ve finished 5th…
- Palace lost just once on their travels to a team outside the Top 7…
- Palace scored more away goals than Liverpool and Man United…
- Palace conceded less away goals than Chelsea and the same as Man City…
Their defensive record (away at least) may be a legacy of the Crystal Pulis days. But their attacking improvement can be put down to the development of their two stars of the season, Jason Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie. Both are prone to the odd skittish moment – like Puncheon’s penalty that hit the steward v Tottenham. Both have an eye for the spectacular – like Bolasie’s spinning bottle volley v Man United. But both have delivered this season. Puncheon hit six goals and providing seven assists in 32 matches. And, although three of Bolasie’s four goals came in a little over ten minutes v Sunderland, only David Silva, Santi Cazola, Cesc Fabregas and Angel Di Maria delivered more assists this season. (None of whom would relish playing Glenn Murray or Marouane Chamakh you suspect). Inevitably, there has been big talk of big clubs interested for big money – Liverpool and Newcastle are two of clubs, with figures between £15 – 25 million banded out. So Pardew’s first job of the summer is to keep his crown jewels at the Palace.
Palace’s points scorers…
Palace’s 4-5-1 formation is designed to exploit the strengths of his midfield – Mile Medinak produced a useful five goals and two assists in the first half of the season, before adopting a more passive role – and just one further assist – under Pardew. The mercurial talents of Wilfried Zaha look much more at home than they were ever going to at Manchester United. He weighed in with four goals and four assists and we can expect more of the same next term, that is if Pardew can balance his flair alongside ‘water carriers’ McArthur and Ledley.
The stats show it clearly suits playing away from home – surrendering possession and playing on the break – than at Selhurst Park. Palace scored more, conceded less and registered more clean sheets on their travels and if any defenders are to be entertained, this needs to be born in mind. Three of the back-five barely changed all season – Speroni in goal, right back Joel Ward and centre back Scott Dann were almost ever present. Ex-Liverpool and England youth international Martin Kelly and Damien Delaney clocking up 28 and 26 matches apiece. Segalise international Pape N’Diaye Souare joined in January from Lille and featured prominently in the latter stages of the season, including the big matches v Liverpool and Man United, so we can expect him to feature more prominently next season. One thing for Fantasy managers to note – no centre back managed more assists in the PL than Scott Dann, with four. Two goals too, so a threat from set pieces.
At the sharp end…
So, while the end of season report card reads ‘Satisfactory’ for the defence; ‘Good’ for the midfield and ‘Promising’ overall. The area for improvement is clearly in the attacking positions. Goal scoring duties were juggled between Marouane Chamakh, Frazier Campbell and Dwight Gayle with varying degrees of failure. Gayle’s reputation and best form for Palace has come in the lower divisions. Frazier Campbell has never really been able to arrest the tailspin his career has been in since leaving Manchester United (and at 27 is running out of time to establish a PL career). And the enigma that is Marouane Chamakh has averaged just 13 matches per season since 2010. Glenn Murray announced his return from Reading on-loan with six goals in six games at the peak of Palace’s form. But – unfair comparisons with equine animals better employed pulling carriages, notwithstanding – with just 29 PL appearances in two season he doesn’t look the answer.
Much of the Pardew period has been spent with a lone striker – a thankless task at the best of time, where the workload is weighty and the pickings slim. With none of the current crop so far demonstrating the guile or goals to take Palace forward – and the only other option being Shola Ameobi, who has barely made ripple in his mainly cameo appearances – a new goal king is required at the Palace. Blackburn’s Jordan Rhodes is one name that has been touted. The Scottish international has scored an impressive 156 goals in 257 starts (a goal every 1.6 matches), but the PL would represent a significant step up. Any transfer fee would need to be equally significant, Hull had £12 million snubbed last season but with the club announcing that 10th place was worth £77.3 million there is money at the Palace Even without selling the crown jewels.
Matt Nesbitt is a one-time player, long-time tipster and full-time fan of the beautiful game. He is a regular guest on TipTV.co.uk and the man behind Premier League Match Predictor MatchSim.com. Email: mattnesbitt
Final League position: 10th
Points total: 48
Season 2014-15 Summary:
Never the most fashionable club in London, never mind the Premier League, Crystal Palace have quietly gone about their business and established themselves as a solid, mid-table PL team. That might sound a bit like damning them with faint praise, but after eight long seasons in the Championship – and compared to the resources available to other clubs in London, never mind the Premier League – Palace’s achievement is remarkable. Their tenth place and 48pts total is a place and 3pts improvement on last season. But more significantly, sits them comfortably above four teams who spent more than double Palace’s £54million in transfer fess over the last five years. Indeed, only three teams in the PL – West Brom, Leicester and Burnley – have spent less.
Crystal Pulis…
When Tony Pulis arrived in November 2013 and accepted the mission improbable of keeping Palace up (when seemingly already cremated) manager and team seemed a perfect match. All energy, endeavour and organisation – Pulis’ remarkable 11 clean sheets from 25 matches not only dug Palace out of the dodo but seemed to deliver a perfect cocktail of PL sustainability. When he suddenly departed on the eve of the season however, any optimism soon drained away. And that was BEFORE Neil Warnock showed up…
The first half of the season produced just three wins and Warnock was gone at Christmas. But Alan Pardew’s appointment on January 2nd soon looked inspired. A run of eight wins from his first 12 matches – punctuated only by narrow defeats to Everton, Arsenal and Southampton – removed any suggestion of being drawn into the relegation bun-fight. And Palace wound up the season winning at Anfield and leaving the pitch fuming at being beaten by Manchester United. Heady times. In fact, a closer look at their season stats reveals further revelations that might surprise.
Palace on their travels…
- Based on their away record alone they would’ve finished 5th…
- Palace lost just once on their travels to a team outside the Top 7…
- Palace scored more away goals than Liverpool and Man United…
- Palace conceded less away goals than Chelsea and the same as Man City…
Their defensive record (away at least) may be a legacy of the Crystal Pulis days. But their attacking improvement can be put down to the development of their two stars of the season, Jason Puncheon and Yannick Bolasie. Both are prone to the odd skittish moment – like Puncheon’s penalty that hit the steward v Tottenham. Both have an eye for the spectacular – like Bolasie’s spinning bottle volley v Man United. But both have delivered this season. Puncheon hit six goals and providing seven assists in 32 matches. And, although three of Bolasie’s four goals came in a little over ten minutes v Sunderland, only David Silva, Santi Cazola, Cesc Fabregas and Angel Di Maria delivered more assists this season. (None of whom would relish playing Glenn Murray or Marouane Chamakh you suspect). Inevitably, there has been big talk of big clubs interested for big money – Liverpool and Newcastle are two of clubs, with figures between £15 – 25 million banded out. So Pardew’s first job of the summer is to keep his crown jewels at the Palace.
Palace’s points scorers…
Palace’s 4-5-1 formation is designed to exploit the strengths of his midfield – Mile Medinak produced a useful five goals and two assists in the first half of the season, before adopting a more passive role – and just one further assist – under Pardew. The mercurial talents of Wilfried Zaha look much more at home than they were ever going to at Manchester United. He weighed in with four goals and four assists and we can expect more of the same next term, that is if Pardew can balance his flair alongside ‘water carriers’ McArthur and Ledley.
The stats show it clearly suits playing away from home – surrendering possession and playing on the break – than at Selhurst Park. Palace scored more, conceded less and registered more clean sheets on their travels and if any defenders are to be entertained, this needs to be born in mind. Three of the back-five barely changed all season – Speroni in goal, right back Joel Ward and centre back Scott Dann were almost ever present. Ex-Liverpool and England youth international Martin Kelly and Damien Delaney clocking up 28 and 26 matches apiece. Segalise international Pape N’Diaye Souare joined in January from Lille and featured prominently in the latter stages of the season, including the big matches v Liverpool and Man United, so we can expect him to feature more prominently next season. One thing for Fantasy managers to note – no centre back managed more assists in the PL than Scott Dann, with four. Two goals too, so a threat from set pieces.
At the sharp end…
So, while the end of season report card reads ‘Satisfactory’ for the defence; ‘Good’ for the midfield and ‘Promising’ overall. The area for improvement is clearly in the attacking positions. Goal scoring duties were juggled between Marouane Chamakh, Frazier Campbell and Dwight Gayle with varying degrees of failure. Gayle’s reputation and best form for Palace has come in the lower divisions. Frazier Campbell has never really been able to arrest the tailspin his career has been in since leaving Manchester United (and at 27 is running out of time to establish a PL career). And the enigma that is Marouane Chamakh has averaged just 13 matches per season since 2010. Glenn Murray announced his return from Reading on-loan with six goals in six games at the peak of Palace’s form. But – unfair comparisons with equine animals better employed pulling carriages, notwithstanding – with just 29 PL appearances in two season he doesn’t look the answer.
Much of the Pardew period has been spent with a lone striker – a thankless task at the best of time, where the workload is weighty and the pickings slim. With none of the current crop so far demonstrating the guile or goals to take Palace forward – and the only other option being Shola Ameobi, who has barely made ripple in his mainly cameo appearances – a new goal king is required at the Palace. Blackburn’s Jordan Rhodes is one name that has been touted. The Scottish international has scored an impressive 156 goals in 257 starts (a goal every 1.6 matches), but the PL would represent a significant step up. Any transfer fee would need to be equally significant, Hull had £12 million snubbed last season but with the club announcing that 10th place was worth £77.3 million there is money at the Palace Even without selling the crown jewels.
Matt Nesbitt is a one-time player, long-time tipster and full-time fan of the beautiful game. He is a regular guest on TipTV.co.uk and the man behind Premier League Match Predictor MatchSim.com. Email: mattnesbitt
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